


It's Always You

by Natileroxs



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: :), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Manga Spoilers, One Shot, Temporary Character Death, angst is what i specialize in, oh boy this was fun to write, this ended up being way longer than i thought
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27556324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natileroxs/pseuds/Natileroxs
Summary: Senku dies, everything goes sideways, dominos fall(a 'what-if' Senku didn't wake up when Tsukasa killed him)
Relationships: Asagiri Gen & Ishigami Senkuu, Chrome & Ishigami Senkuu, Ishigami Senkuu & Kohaku, Ishigami Senkuu & Nanami Ryuusui, Ishigami Senkuu & Ogawa Yuzuriha & Ooki Taiju, Ishigami Senkuu & Ruri, Ishigami Senkuu & Saionji Ukyou, Ishigami Senkuu & Suika
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61





	It's Always You

**Author's Note:**

> Lots and lots of notes for the end, I promise
> 
> I'm an angst writer, so be warned.
> 
> To everyone waiting for my bnha fic, I'm sorry but I'm coming dw
> 
> Title is from One Small Step

It’s like he’s floating. There’s nothing beneath his feet. He has feet, that’s what he checks first. That he still has a body. But… he feels empty. Something’s wrong. 

Senku places a hand to his chest and his eyes widen. Nothing. He moves it to his neck and feels every inch before rushing to his wrists, pressing down with his middle and forefinger. 

Nothing. 

Sure, he’s breathing, but it’s reflexive. It’s not _doing_ anything. Because his heart isn’t pumping blood, his lungs aren’t processing oxygen. He has no pulse. 

He feels cold. 

It’s not a flash of white. It’s not blinding. It’s slow, the light. It crawls on him, a dim flicker that brightens ever so slowly, giving his eyes time to adjust. He blinks slowly and that should be impossible, really. To blink. To move. To even think in this state. 

It’s not like the stone. It’s different. 

It’s like watching a movie. He’s no longer floating but standing, his leather-clad feet pushing into the dirt as he watches. Time has rewound itself. He watches, as Taiju and Yuzuriha cry and plead. Yuzuriha pours the last of the revival fluid over his neck and he waits. They all do. Taiju screams his name and begs him to wake. 

But this time, he doesn’t. They wait, as the stone cracks off and breaks. But nothing happens. He doesn’t awaken. He just lies there. 

Senku counts four hours. They really shouldn’t be waiting here, Tsukasa will return at any time. His body, the one lying in Yuzuriha’s arms still, is cold and stiff and not showing a slight sign of life. Before, at the fifteen-minute mark, Taiju had attempted CPR. It had been a valiant effort, Senku thinks. Yuzuriha had shown him how to do it properly this time, with the deep chest compressions taking precedence over any sort of mouth to mouth, which Yuzuriha also reluctantly attempted. After an hour, they tried again, with Yuzuriha crying. 

Now, they’re exhausted. From relentlessly trying to get him to breathe or move or from sobbing and crying, Senku does not know. 

They, in the end, give up. Yuzuriha holds him while Taiju digs and then they bury him under the ground. And Senku watches from the outside. He’s already tried. Tried to call out to them. Either they’d hear him and the spell would be broken, or they’d just ignore his voice. Either would be preferable to the speechlessness he is experiencing. 

He can’t talk. He can see, he can hear, but he cannot talk. 

He can move but he has no voice. 

* * *

Time ticks on. Yuzuriha and Taiju stay by the grave, Taiju hugging the girl close to his chest. They’re worn and tired and Yuzuriha seems to drift off every few minutes before sitting up with a jolt. It’s not long, Senku notes as he sits on a nearby fallen branch, observing, thinking, but unable to interact, that Tsukasa finds them. They look so crestfallen, so empty, that Tsukasa’s simple words have them yielding. 

Senku hears Yuzuriha whisper to herself or Taiju, he’s not sure, that she doesn’t like Tsukasa but this is their only option. And Senku is inclined to agree with her. 

He finds himself drifting off. His eyelids slide up and down as he struggles to stay, but is simply unable to. 

He flickers and finds himself in a different place. More trees and plants cluster here, not cut away by their efforts. A tree has fallen, digging into the ground. Trapped underneath, helpless and alone, is Kohaku. 

Senku thinks he knows where this is going, and he doesn’t like it. 

She’s pushing the tree up but it’s not enough. The angle is wrong, her arms aren’t strong enough alone without the rest of her body weight, plus she’s pushing upwards, going against gravity. It’ll never work, no matter how much hysterical strength she displays, everything is against her in this situation. 

At least she’s still breathing but, unharmed and trapped, there’s no way she won’t succumb to the elements or thirst in the next few days. And that might be worse. 

Senku tries. He kneels beside the tree and tries to push but he can’t even feel the object in front of him. His motions push through thin air more than anything else, but his frustration and panic overwhelm him in the moment. He pushes and pushes but it does nothing. It doesn’t even wind him but, despite this, he stops. It’s pointless. 

The sky begins to flicker and darken and Senku clenches his fists in irritation. He watches Kohaku shiver as a chill flickers over them. It’s no winter wind, but it’s still cold enough that, without fire or even a couple of blankets, it’ll be an unpleasant night. 

Kohaku tries once more to push, aware of how fruitless this is but willing to try anything. Senku hears something creak and he pauses, frozen in place as he watches. The wood moves a little and Kohaku lets a small smile grace her lips, pushing with exhausted limbs again. But Senku, voiceless, tries his hardest to shout. To tell her to stop. 

The tree isn’t moving off. It’s sinking. She’s moved it slightly into a section of soft dirt. It’s going to sink into the dirt and crush her ribs and arms first before outright killing her. 

If she tries to move it now, her death will just come quicker. Senku can see the damp patches of grass and soil, and if she’s lying against some sort of sturdy stone, more likely since her constant movement would have just ground her deeper if it had been any softer, she has no hope. 

He, in vain, tries to lift the tree from one end. Even shifting it a little would allow Kohaku to crawl or move into a better position. But his hands brush through and no amount of pulling or surges of sudden strength can stop it from sinking. 

Kohaku visibly tries not to panic, attempting to quell her laboured breathing and figure out a way out of the situation. She searches for her blades, thrown away in the initial impact, and then for any sort of leverage to hoist herself out. Even if it breaks a leg or arm, as long as she can get out, she has a minuscule chance. 

Senku searches as well, trying and struggling and willing for the objects to stay in his hands. For his hands to solidify so he can get them to Kohaku to help her. 

Nothing he can do works. Kohaku just starts shouting for help. If an animal or even another person could come, she could figure something out. She needs something but as her voice grows hoarse and her breathing becomes laboured with the increasing pressure and weight against her chest, she begins to cry. 

“I… have… to… save… Ruri…” She begins to repeat quietly. 

She repeats it until her voice cuts off and Senku can’t even look. He steps forward, focusing only on her face. Her eyes are half shut, lips partly open as her final words linger in the air. He wishes he could close her eyes for her. To do that wouldn’t be enough, but it would be _something_. 

He sits, puts his hands together, and prays for a second, eyes closed in respect. When he opens his eyes, it’s light again. He’s in Ishigami village, full of quiet villagers looking at each other. He watches as Kinro, face cold and stone-like, walks to the centre of the village without a sound. In his arms is a strangely human figure and it takes Senku a few moments to put the pieces together. 

They must have found her. Kohaku. Kinro gently lies her down as the chief, her dear father, rushes to her. His eyes fill with tears as Ruri hurriedly descends the steps despite Jasper and Turquoise’s frantic efforts to stop her. She runs to her father and Kohaku, breaking down into sobs as she sees the fate of her sister. 

The village is silent for once. 

“Kohaku!” A loud voice calls out and a pounding of footsteps draws Senku’s attention away from the mourning family and towards a panicked Chrome. He’s frantic and clumsy as he races to their side, his eyes widening and he covers his mouth. “No…”

Senku can’t watch this. 

So he turns away and the world shifts. 

He’s back in Chrome’s hut. The boy is ragged and upset, eyes lined with dark purple bags and nose red from rubbing it so much. But he seems determined. 

“I… need… to… save… Ruri…” 

His words are almost the same as Kohaku’s were. Senku settles by his side, watching Chrome experiment with plants and rocks feverishly. He’s trying and he’s trying so god damn hard. But it won’t work. These can’t cure pneumonia. Perhaps herbs and warm water from the hot spring that Kohaku intended to return with would help, but they can’t cure her. 

If Senku could move a single object, he could do it. He could save her. Chrome’s extensive collection would help him do it. 

He looks away for a second and then a bang and flash of light occurs, forcing his eyes shut. 

When he blinks them open again, they widen and he goes cold for a reason other than his death. Chrome’s shed has been decimated. He gulps. 

Chrome is gone. There is no doubt about that. And the thought makes him sick. 

* * *

He sits near the shed for an hour before people discover the catastrophe. It’s Ginro and Suika who have come and when Ginro cries out in fear and alarm, Senku rushes in an attempt to shield Suika’s eyes from the damage. His attempts do nothing and the girl begins to cry, tears dripping down to the ground. 

More villagers come, including Kinro, Jasper, and the village chief. Kinro digs through the rubble while Ginro follows much more reluctantly. 

Surprisingly enough, they do end up finding a body, but it’s not a pretty sight and Senku can’t look. The chief sends Suika off and one of the older villagers takes her away to a hut with some other children. She’s crying the whole time. 

Senku follows them, unable to bear looking at the ruins of what would be the humble beginnings of the Kingdom of Science. Kohaku and Chrome are gone, and he couldn’t do anything. 

He watches the children huddle, whispering as Suika removes her melon helmet and rubs her eyes. She’s not squinting, she’s not even trying to see properly, just staring off into space. He wishes he could comfort her. Hug her. It hurts to see this. 

He turns his back and then he’s in the main hut, standing in the entrance as Ruri’s sobs and wails of sorrow morph into coughs and hacks. She falls and her father catches her, lying her on her side in an attempt to help her. 

Senku is by her side in an instant, placing his hand on her shoulder and trying with no luck to even move her. This isn’t the right position, he screams inside his head, but no one can hear him. She just coughs and coughs and coughs and blood comes up and out. She’s dying. And he can’t do a damn thing. 

Her coughs settle after a while, but her breathing doesn’t even out. She gurgles and chokes like she’s drowning and the villagers panic even more, Senku’s eyes widening. 

He steps out as Ruri continues to struggle, attempting to hold onto her life. 

He’s never felt more useless than he has for the last few days that he’s been in this state. 

* * *

He doesn’t even know how long it’s been. He’s at the cemetery now, where three new gravestones sit together. Kohaku, Ruri, Chrome. At least they were buried together, he thinks morbidly. His is far away while he’d rather be buried here. He can’t even feel the grass under his feet, but as he walks forward, placing his hand against the stone, he can feel it. 

His fingers trace the lettering as his tear ducts fail on him, pouring water out of his eyes. Why are these the only things he can touch? Is it something to do with his death? Can he only touch things associated with death? Could he touch a dead body? Move it?

The thought sickens him so he throws it away and, instead, watches the night sky. The moon, the place he was so desperate to reach, is now as far away from his hands as it’ll ever be. It’s a pipe dream, an empty fantasy. 

He blinks up at it and a cloudy sky replaces it. He hears a trickle of water and finds he’s by the river. At the river edge, sits Suika. Unhappily, she’s kicking the water with her bare feet. Her head is lacking the watermelon. 

Her face isn’t scrunched up, so she’s not trying to see anything. She’s just content with the blur. 

“I want big sis’ Kohaku back,” she sighs quietly, sounding far too old for her age. Senku sits beside her, wanting more than anything just to talk to her. He’s not even sure why she’s here. At the river with the water lapping up at both of them. Curiously, he lowers his leg into the water but it’s like the rushing water passes through him, causing him to retract his leg almost instantly. 

Suika kicks her legs a little, and then a little more. The motion draws her further inward, towards the pull of the current and Senku sees it before it happens. 

She gets tugged under and Kohaku’s voice echoes in his mind. From the grand bout. She was terrified that Suika had fallen into the river. 

And now she has, Senku ignoring the water’s feel as he dives into the river and struggles to even swim. Suika is trying, he can see. She’s trying to pull herself to the surface, but her struggle fizzles out as the current pulls her further. 

He screams inside his head. She’s just a child. She doesn’t deserve this. 

Suika, he wants to yell, even if the water would flood his lungs. But he can’t. He has no voice, his lungs don’t work. 

He’s as helpless as she is. 

* * *

He doesn’t wait around. There’s no use. He blinks and he’s back in the forest. It’s night and the haze of the fires lit coming from Ishigami village. He’s unsure what will happen next, so he just waits. 

He can’t do anything anyways. 

It takes an hour at the most for anything to occur, but when it does it surprises him before something breaks inside him. 

“Are you the one who killed Kohaku, in the forest?!” Is Magma’s loud growl. 

“What are you talking about,” is the swift response from the one and only Asagiri Gen. 

Senku can’t help it. He runs through the trees to see the confrontation. Magma, Mantle, and Carbo stand with spears raised, Magma’s pointing straight at Gen. On the other side, Gen looks absolutely baffled, his eyebrows scrunched up and eyes narrowed at the blade threatening his life. 

Senku wishes he could yell. Tell the mentalist to run. Get out. 

It makes sense, somewhat, that Gen has come. Sukasa has sent him to find out if Senku really is dead. But at the first instance of Magma finding an outsider, he has, understandably but still wrongfully, put together that Gen was the one who attacked and therefore killed Kohaku. 

No matter personal feelings, the glory Magma would receive from bringing the daughter of the chief’s murderer to justice is tempting enough. 

But Gen didn’t kill Kohaku. Gen doesn’t even know who Kohaku is. But, that won’t even matter. 

Senku covers his ears and closes his eyes but he can’t avoid it. He can’t avoid the choking and squelching and then the heavy footsteps that carry away from them. It’s only when he hears Gen’s soft whispers that he opens his eyes. 

_“W...hy?”_ In a rare instance, this is the true, purest form of emotion that Gen can portray. And it’s one of confusion and betrayal. He thought this would be easy. He never foresaw something like this. 

Unlike Kohaku, Gen’s eyes actually do slide shut as he drifts off, numb to the pain but bleeding out all the same. But all Senku can do is lower himself to the ground and sit, arms wrapped around his legs with his knees to his chest, hiding his face and the small tears springing from his eyes. 

* * *

It’s almost as if he falls asleep. He awakes to see Gen’s corpse still in front of him but fast footsteps behind him. He unwraps himself from his curled upstate and takes in Gen’s form. The blood has dried into the grass as the sun shines down on them from gaps between branches and leaves. The rustling and pounding footsteps get faster before they stop. 

A choked off sound is made and then aborted from behind him. He turns his head reluctantly to see a pale, sickened face taking in the sight. 

Ukyo Saionji is not someone who is rattled very easily, Senku has learned. But there are triggers for everyone. 

**_“I just don’t want anyone to die before my eyes.”_ **

Ukyo drops to his knees beside Gen’s body and looks him up and down. It’s like a car crash or train wreck. You’re horrified and sickened at the sight, but you can’t look away. Ukyo’s hands and arms are shaking as he gathers the dead weight in his arms, holding Gen’s head close to his chest, and springs up, knees buckling at the strain. 

He starts walking back towards Tsukasa’s great empire and Senku follows a few feet behind. His steps are slow, and he shakes a little every so often, but his face is blank. Well, most of it. His eyes are haunted. Glazed over and with wide pupils. 

It takes around twelve hours to return to the empire of might, the sun having sunk deep into the horizon when Ukyo collapses in front of a cave. Senku hears him first. Tsukasa. 

The man previously known as the strongest primate high schooler, Tsukasa Shishio, rises from his seat and steps over almost silently. He lowers himself gently in front of the body and the strings-cut Ukyo, waving away everyone else. 

It’s just them now. And Senku, watching and waiting. Waiting to see how Tsukasa reacts. Waiting to see what he says, what Ukyo says. 

“Ukyo,” Tsukasa’s voice is gentle, quiet. He places a hand on Ukyo’s shoulder and, in an instant, Ukyo bursts into tears.

He doesn’t make any noise, but his body shakes violently and water pours from his eye faster and faster, Tsukasa’s grip becoming firmer on his shoulder. 

“I… found… him…” Ukyo struggles to get out. “Primitive… village…” 

Tsukasa’s eyes grow cold and sad. 

“Did they see you?”

Ukyo shakes his head. “He was in the forest. I think he… he… I think it happened last night…” 

“You returned immediately,” Tsukasa gathers. Ukyo nods, raising an arm to rub his eyes. Splotches of tears and blood litter his yellow pants and tunic. 

Tsukasa rises slowly as if interacting with a frightened animal. He’s careful not to startle Ukyo as he takes Gen from him and into his far stronger arms. 

“We will bury him, Ukyo. He will rest within the earth and return to nature. I promise you,” Tsukasa tells him before walking away, leaving the blond withering on the floor with pain in his heart. 

Senku sits with him if only to pass the time. He can’t get it out of his head. Any of this. 

Everything just leads back. Doesn’t it. 

* * *

Senku seems to look away for a second and then it’s raining. It’s raining and Ukyo is sitting in a tree with the water splashing onto him. He’s soaked to the bone, Senku being unable to distinguish whether the liquid trailing down his cheeks is water or tears. 

The boy shivers but Senku can’t feel it. The cold. Rain always brings such temperatures with it, at least in Japan, with the chill of the northern wind gracing them every so often. 

Senku gives himself a moment to pause. Everyone is dying. Kohaku, Chrome, Ruri, Suika, Gen. It just rings in his head. 

_Who’s next?_

They seem to be dropping like flies, but the analogy makes him shudder so he pushes it to the back of his head to gather dust. Instead, he simply watches Ukyo as the boy falls asleep, bow clutched to his chest. His head is against the trunk and the way his legs cling tightly to the branch makes Senku a little more reassured that he won’t fall, but staying out, drenched from the rain, with the cold and the thin clothing, can’t be good. 

Senku blinks and it’s sunny again. Ukyo is still in his tree, but he’s dry and awake. His hat has been pulled down to hide his expression as he sits, watching the village carefully. 

Hyoga has awoken, he hears. Senku had a sinking suspicion it would happen sooner or later. And he hears something else. That Hyoga seems to butt heads with Taiju a whole heap. 

Senku hasn’t seen a glimpse of Taiju or Yuzuriha since they buried him, so he doesn’t know how they’re fairing in this society full of gruelling work and living off the land. Taiju may be going along with it for Yuzuriha’s safety, and Yuzuriha may be going along with it to stay alive, but Senku knows that neither of them agrees with Tsukasa. 

And while Tsukasa is a problem, at least his charisma and mercy is something that makes him somewhat competent as a leader. Hyoga, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. He’s sticking to Tsukasa’s ideals currently, and he is a strong and capable fighter, but there is no kindness in those eyes of his. 

For someone who only wanted to bring back the young and _pure-hearted_ , Tsukasa has really made a misstep with this one. Although, Senku can’t help thinking about when he told Taiju it’d be unfortunate to bring back a murderer first. Because that’s exactly what they ended up doing.

He’s broken out of his musings by a quiet sound that makes his eyes widen and his instinctive breathing stop. He turns his head ever so slightly, slowly, to see Ukyo hunched over in the tree, covering his mouth with a hand. 

The muffled coughs rattle Senku’s bones and he grates his teeth. He has a very bad feeling. 

Of course, he could have just had something stuck in his throat. Or perhaps this is just a natural cold spurred on by his sulk in the rain. Maybe he just has a dry throat. 

He tries to reason with himself all the things that it _could_ be. He closes his eyes as the coughs stop. They’re wet, and the absence of them has Senku pondering them even more. He opens his eyes and it’s another day, judging from the early sun opposed to the late one from prior. A group of people are chatting in the middle of the clearing, mingling between different groups. 

A shriek passes through the air and Senku spins to see Ukyo on the ground by his tree, obviously having fallen, coughing wetly into the grass. He’s not even trying to hide the way blood soaks the ground as he throws up before coughing harder. His hands are coated red and shaking while tears prick at the corners of his eyes from the pain and exertion. And fear, likely. 

Senku rushes over, wishing more than anything to be able to help. The crowd around lingers or hesitates and Senku understands. The fear of this spreading is very real. 

Ukyo’s symptoms mirror Ruri’s and the conclusion the horrified Senku comes to is this one: Pneumonia. 

For someone as young and in rather good health as Ukyo, it would be easy to cure in the modern-day. But now, without science or medicine, this will kill him in a matter of days, if not hours. From how far it seems to have progressed, plus that day in the goddamn icy rain, Ukyo will not survive long. 

The crowd clears a path as Tsukasa and Hyoga make a beeline for the coughing and choking on his own bile and blood Ukyo. While Hyoga hangs back, seeming to reunite with Homura, Tsukasa surges forward, avoiding the mess Ukyo’s made and, instead, pulling the blond close to his chest, hefting him up into his arms. 

Ukyo doesn’t even seem to notice. His eyes water and he coughs harder, the sound of him suffocating, drowning, eerily and uncomfortably similar to that day in the hut with Ruri. 

He must have caught it when he found Gen. It’s an unlikely event, but certainly not impossible. And it must have lingered in his system until he got cold and his immune system took a back seat for just a moment. Just a single instance did it fail him and now Ukyo is showing actual symptoms, no longer asymptomatic as he was. 

Tsukasa carries Ukyo away from the group. Away from everyone’s stares and prying eyes. Senku spies Taiju and Yuzuriha’s concerned and fearful looks among the crowd, the girl attempting to push through. But soon enough the pair are out of sight and Senku blinks again. 

Tsukasa places Ukyo on the ground beside what Senku recognises as his own grave. He intends to bury him beside Senku once his life gives out. Senku’s head turns and notices the second gravemarker beside his own. Gen’s buried there, he realises. And the realisation is sickening. 

Ukyo probably comes to the same conclusion that Senku came to. He smiles a little, the smear of crimson brushing his lips, cheeks, and chin, make it more terrifying than probably intended. Tsukasa, though, doesn’t seem to care. He holds Ukyo gently. 

“Why?” Ukyo gets out between coughs and chokes, yellow fabric stained red. “Why are you here?” He looks pale under all the blood, eyes once again glazed over. 

Tsukasa lowers his head. “At least, this way, you won’t be alone at the end.” 

Ukyo laughs and the laughter makes his breath hitch and his body lurch as he throws up again. He must’ve torn or pulled something, which makes everything so much worse. 

“Hey, Tsukasa?”

“Yes, Ukyo?” Tsukasa answers gently. “What is it?” 

“The scientist. The one you killed.”

Tsukasa hums. 

“Do you think he could have saved me?” Ukyo asks and Senku wants to scream yes. Yes he could have. He’d have Ukyo healthier and better than before. 

“He could have…” Is Tsukasa’s quiet reply. Ukyo scrunches up his eyes and nose as he coughs even harder, tears beginning to make trails on either side of his nose. Senku reaches for him. Dammit, if only he could do something. If he had more time and resources and an actual living and breathing body to operate. He could do it!

“Then-” Ukyo is cut off with another cough before a sob breaks out. “Then this is-is… your… fault… in… a way.” 

Tsukasa seems to close his eyes and lowers his head. Ukyo rolls out of Tsukasa’s arms and onto the ground. On the other side of Senku’s grave, mirroring Gen’s. He knows exactly where he’s going to end up. Right there, except six feet deeper. He’s on his side, turned away from Tsukasa, but he whispers between weak coughs. 

“I’ll tell him that…” he says and it sounds both sad and a little resentful. “And I’ll say hello to Gen too.” 

It takes a few more coughs before Ukyo’s whole body gives out and stops moving all together. Senku rises and walks around, crouching beside the boy, who has his eyes closed and wet trails drying on his cheeks while blood stops dripping from his nose and the corners of his mouth. 

He didn’t die like Ruri. She drowned. He kept getting it out before it could fill his lungs, but that caused his downfall. He lost too much. A human can only lose so much blood before their body gives up and their heart fails, not to mention his lungs are likely torn up and drowning. 

It’s painful how conflicted Ukyo’s face is. Senku places his hand on the boy’s arm and it’s still warm. 

But no longer does his chest rise. 

* * *

He watches them bury Ukyo. Tsukasa can’t look anyone in the eyes and it hurts that his first thought is that finally Tsukasa realises. He hates that it took this for Tsukasa to understand that science is needed if society is to progress. They hold a ceremony and Senku sees Taiju and Yuzuriha huddled together, praying. They’re probably praying for all three of them. Senku doesn’t know what everyone thought of Gen before his death, but there are flowers left at his grave. At Senku’s too, strangely enough. 

By Nikki of all people. At first that is. 

There are very few people who linger. Nikki leaves flowers on Senku and Gen’s graves before kneeling in front of Ukyo’s and singing. Only Senku can hear it, because no one else notices. 

She’s singing something by Lillian Weinberg. 

_“One small step from zero, I’m not afraid. ‘Cause the world that we want is right here for us to make,_  
_Just taking one small step to hero, I’ll take the chance.”_

She’s crying. Yuzuriha is too, hugging close to Taiju as Senku is reminded of his father. His father up in space alongside the musician with the beautiful voice. 

_“And when I do I’ll be thinking of the same thing I always do,_  
_It’s always you.”_

And Senku realises that he won’t get another break from here on out. 

And that terrifies him. 

* * *

In contrast to Ukyo’s slow and painful death, the next comes quickly. 

Senku’s thoughts keep returning to Nikki singing that song. Her voice wasn’t perfect and she’s definitely no Lillian, but she was singing it so softly and the words were so exact that he can’t help but know. He knows she was a massive Lillian fan, who probably listened to her songs every day back in the past. 

Thinking about everyone here, about how much they mourn for the lives they had. It only makes him yearn to create and wish to bring it back. But it’s impossible. 

He looks away for a moment and then he’s by a waterfall. It’s not one he’s ever seen before, but it’s rather loud and big. The only others that are in front of him are Taiju, Yuzuriha, and Hyoga. 

This is bad. 

Hyoga doesn’t give them a chance. He’s strong and even Taiju can’t even brace himself before he’s flying off. Yuzuriha screams and reaches for a small, crude dagger which she holds in front of her, swiping at the white-haired man. She manages to graze his arm and cheek, interestingly enough, but soon enough she’s gone as well. And all Senku can do is watch and wonder. 

Why?

Why did this all happen? 

He tries to speak again. Nothing comes out and he’s left, sitting on the edge of the cliff, swinging his legs, as he squeezes his eyes shut and tries to drown out the waterfall with the sound of Lillian singing. There was a broadcast, he remembers. One she performed from outer space. 

He’d listened, because of course he’d listened. Who hadn’t? He remembered Yuzuriha asking him the next day if he had and he’d scoffed and said he couldn’t remember because it wasn’t that important. 

He’d been researching the swallows then. It had seemed like a fun science project and an interesting occurrence to study. His curiosity had just been a detached one at that point. 

Oh, how things changed. 

If he thinks about Byakuya anymore, he’ll probably go crazy, though. That man has been gone thousands of years. He’ll probably never hear his voice again. 

Then again, Senku is dead. So maybe? He’s not sure about the logistics in this situation, so he doesn’t think about them because there are more important things. 

“Where are Yuzuriha and Taiju?” Tsukasa asks and Hyoga lies. He says he saw them fall from the cliff by the waterfall. He says he tried to save them. 

Senku glares at him and wishes it would actually do something. 

Instead, Tsukasa just goes to the graves and places another two markers down, praying for all of them. It’s kind of sad, to see such a man so downtrodden and in mourning. Although Senku can’t bring himself to care, seeing as he sort of brought this upon himself. 

* * *

The Tsukasa empire expands, and with it, so does the amount of broken and shattered statues. It’s been obvious from the very beginning that they would make it here eventually. 

The Nanami school is certainly eye-catching for someone like Tsukasa, looking for a sailor or something of the sort. He looks at a figure and suddenly he turns to Minami Hokutozai. Of course he does. 

She looks hesitant and he catches that, asking for her to explain her feelings on the current subject before them. And Senku knows how she feels. He knows the outcome of this. 

The thud that echoes throughout the barren land makes Senku instinctively cover his ears and he looks over before scrunching up his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. On the ground, lying helplessly is the head of one Ryusui Nanami. 

The sight of it makes him sick. He’s stone, of course, unconscious and unfeeling, but it still echoes in his mind. This is a real person. This man was real. And Tsukasa heartlessly killed him because someone just said he was ‘greedy’ and ‘didn’t deserve to be revived’. 

He always thinks back to that first statue Tsukasa destroyed, before thinking about every single other one he’s shattered. And how? How could Tsukasa detach himself so much from it all? 

_“And when I do I’ll be thinking of the same thing I always do,_  
_It’s always you.”_

Everything flickers in front of him, a swirl of colours and lights. Before he can move, he’s somewhere he’s never seen. 

Actually, that’s wrong. He’s been here before. A long time ago with his father. This hill, full of wildflowers and cherry blossom petals, is a place he hasn’t seen in a long time. The sound of water trickles by as he lies there. 

The sun is arching downwards so he closes his eyes. Is this it? He can’t figure out. 

A hand links with his, followed by another in his hair. His eyes snap open but he doesn’t move. His other hand is taken as he takes in the faces leaning over him. 

First is Kohaku. Her hair is threaded with pink and white carnations, pulled back away from her face with a ribbon. Her dress is white and loose, much more modern. Beside her is Ryusui, grinning brightly with a captain’s hat upon his head. His clothes resemble a pirate’s, but there are bright blue cornflowers in his hair, ruining the grizzly aesthetic a little. 

Ruri and Chrome are next, blond hair barely visible within white anemones as her pastel yellow dress sinks into the grass. Bouvardias of all different colours are hooked over Chrome’s ears and tucked into his blazer pocket pulled over a white shirt and black slacks. 

Threading their hands through his hair is Yuzuriha, with Taiju having his hand on her shoulder. They both wear the old school uniform he knows well, freesias intertwined with locks of Yuzuriha’s hair while yellow and peach gerbera daisies are overflowing from all of Taiju’s pockets. 

Holding one of his hands is Gen. His outfit is a suit, loosened and partially covered by an open yukata, coloured purple, red, and yellow. The white side of his hair is braided with bat orchids while snapdragons are tucked into the black side. His other hand is held by two. Suika, in a beautifully done up kimono, white and blue mixing together while gold flower patterns spread across every inch of the fabric, gazes down without the watermelon. Her sun-kissed hair is full of lilies, with one sunflower tucked into the obi around her waist. 

She’s sitting in the lap of Ukyo, who has his hand covering both Senku’s and Suika’s. His outfit is a yellow tunic and pants, with a marines style military coat slung over his shoulders. His hat is lifted up and away from his face, with proteas tucked under and into his breast pocket. 

And Senku looks up at them. They’re all smiling. Their eyes are almost glowing, bright and youthful. They look happy, happy that he’s there. 

_**“Senku.”** _

Ryusui is the one that helps him sit up, Taiju sitting partially behind him to keep him from falling back. It’s then that Senku looks down at himself. He’s wearing his uniform and lab coat, leg practically hidden by the abundance of different flowers around. Millions of colour variations and species. 

_**“Senku?”** _

Suika giggles and takes one of the flowers, he doesn’t see which one, and Ruri begins to help her, filling his hair with plants and petals. He can’t bring himself to tell them to stop. 

Ukyo, Chrome, and Ryusui talk and laugh and Kohaku says something to Yuzuriha and Taiju that makes them go beet red, Gen barking out a laugh at their reaction.

_**“Senku!”** _

* * *

He blinks his eyes open, Kohaku and Chrome hovering over him. He’s back in the observatory, the sun shining through the window. 

He’s alive. Everyone is alive. 

He’s okay. 

**Author's Note:**

> All my notes jotted down as I wrote this are as follows 
> 
> \- Senku's death is the obvious catalyst as to this spiral in the first place.  
> \- understanding it as a dream sequence, the main thing was the thought that he might not wake up because even if his spine was fixed, there's no guarantee that his heart would start.  
> \- it did in the show but because of the nature of this fic, it didn't.
> 
> \- as an obvious consequence of senku's absence, Kohaku is never saved and gets killed
> 
> \- Chrome, after learning of Kohaku's death, becomes even more frantic in search of a cure for Ruri. This causes him to throw caution to the wind. many early scientists did, in fact, get injured or die due to experimentation.  
> \- If Senku wasn't there, it was only a matter of time before Chrome accidentally killed himself by mixing the wrong things together
> 
> \- Kohaku used to bring her sister hot spring water several times a day to keep her warm and clean. With her gone, there's no doubt she would have fallen more ill, and with neither Chrome nor Kohaku around, she really has no will to continue, no matter if she needs to pass along the hundred tales.
> 
> \- oh yeah, i went there.  
> \- in her depressed state after losing kohaku, chrome, and ruri, suika stops wearing the watermelon.  
> \- in doing so, she weakens her eyesight considerably but doesn't even care.  
> \- her falling into the river has been playing on my mind ever since it was mentioned in the grand bout.
> 
> \- Senku pretty much explains why Gen dies so I don't really need to. Poor baby though, doesn't even know what's going on :(
> 
> \- Ukyo is my favourite character and he is so relatable in his reactions to the horrors of this war. I love the sentence "I just don’t want anyone to die before my eyes.” (taken exactly from the translation from chapter 74 of the manga) because it embodies what a lot of people in the world feel, i think.
> 
> \- I love Ukyo, but I love angst and putting my favs through hell >:')  
> \- Professor Senku basically explains everything, but I do wonder how no one else in the village caught Pneumonia even though the rats were. hmm  
> \- also, Ukyo's resentment towards Tsukasa is both understandable and reasonable. Imagine dying from an illness and there was one person who could save you and someone straight-up killed them. could you really forgive the murderer?  
> \- Tsukasa staying with him until the very end really reflects how complicated his character is instead of being a monstrous murderer
> 
> \- hyoga was gonna kill taiju and yuzuriha eventually, we all know that. 
> 
> \- I haven't actually read far enough in the manga for ryusui and tsukasa to meet, so I have no idea what type of terms they're on. but this tsukasa would definitely disaprove of ryusui
> 
> Alright, flower time  
> Kohaku  
> \- Pink Carnations - Love of a woman or mother  
> \- White Carnations - Innocence and pure love  
> \- Overall - Pride and beauty  
> Ryusui  
> \- Cornflowers - Also known as Boutonniere flowers or Bachelor buttons - Worn by young men in love  
> Ruri  
> \- Anemones (other than red ones) - Anticipation, relaxtion, and fragility  
> Chrome  
> \- Bouvardias - Enthusiasmsm  
> Yuzuriha  
> \- Freesias - Sweetness, innocence, thoughtfulness  
> Taiju  
> \- Gerbera Daisies - Cheerfulness  
> Gen  
> \- Bat Orchids (Tacca Chantrieri) - Strength and confidence  
> \- Snapdragons - Graciousness  
> Suika  
> \- Lilies - Devotion or purity  
> \- Sunflowers - Warmth, adoration, dedication (they are significant to her in canon too)  
> Ukyo  
> \- Proteas (Sugarbushes) - Change, transformation, diversity, courage
> 
> I purposefully left Senku's flowers ambiguous but it's pretty much a mix of a bunch of them
> 
> Hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
